Malden Musings: Bocce, predictions and memorials

Monday

Oct 30, 2017 at 6:01 PMOct 30, 2017 at 6:11 PM

By Peter Levine

The phrase “Fall Classic” has only one real meaning for Maldonians in October of 2017 — “you are correct sir,” I’m talking about the Italian American Citizen’s Club Annual Bocce Championship Series Finals. This year it took Pete “Boss Of The Bocce Court” Robinson and his band of merry men five games to put this barn burner of a series to sleep for the winter and to take their second straight title home. A few takeaways from the night:

• It was a chilly night with passions running high as the boys played flawless bocce in front of one of the bigger crowds all season.

• These friendly opponents battled on the bocce court and verbally sparred for hours for those all important bragging rights until next April when the season begins anew.

• Derek and Dave Arsenault had their game faces on all night for the losing bocce team and were noticeably gracious in defeat.

• Winning team members, brothers Danny and Johnny Marsinelli, also had their game faces on all night.

• Richie Cremone has his game face on all year round AND he makes THE best chicken soup in Malden – hint, hint.

• Celebrity sighting spied mingling with friends and constituents, U.S. Senator from Massachusetts (D!) the most Honorable Eddie Markey from Townsend Street — a mere three or four blocks down Charles Street to his childhood, and current, home.

• Another celebrity sighting was the new Cataldo Ambulance CFO Mike Turilli. Mike’s bocce team did not fare as well this year as in years past but he was there to root his pals on.

• Bocce fever sweeping throughout the wards of Malden with bocce central located at the IACC on Pearl Street. A few of the IACC patrons jokingly insisting that bocce be introduced at the high school level.

• Winning team captain Pete Robinson called it an “epic battle” and was quoted as saying that his excellent play this night should be credited to his “beautiful and supportive” girlfriend Joannie Fucci.

• The victorious squad was compared to a well oiled machine with dynasty potential with veterans and local characters like Paul “Hit Man” Doyle, Tommy Czar and Teddy Teal playing inspired bocce all night long.

“In the year 2525 if Malden is still alive...” — with all due respect to Zager and Evans, whose brilliant but gloomy take on the future leaves one with sense of dread going forward, I predict right here and now, on these pages today, that Malden will survive as it has for the past 250 years or so. Six predictions for the year 2525, 508 years into the future for Malden.

• Gary Christenson will be in his 127th term as mayor of Malden — kept alive through the miracle of modern science a la the 1962 sci-fi horror flick “The Brain That Would Not Die.”

• The newest city hall building is located on Pearl Street in Ward 2 and is named the “Peter Caso City Hall” after the 2017 Facebook sensation Peter Caso whose unsuccessful 1000-1 underdog run for mayor in the year 2018 was often compared to that improbable 1967 Boston Red Sox Impossible Dream Team. Close, but no cigar.

• Malden’s population hit 500,000 for the first time in its history.

• Malden also owns bragging rights in the commonwealth with over 2,500 Dunkin' Donuts shops spread out over 5 square miles.

• Joseph Noone — great, great, great, great great grandson of Joey “Voices” Noone — was elected as chairperson to the newly formed Ultra Liberal Progressive Democratic Party Committee in Malden. At tonight’s inaugural gathering of the committee Joseph will do a medley of Doobie Brothers songs made famous by his legendary forbearer “Voices” many years before.

• Also appearing at the event is Eugene Pinkham, co-chair of the group — great, great, great, great great grandson of Gene Pinkham, whose generosity and altruism with groups like ‘Bread of Life’ were well known many years earlier.

“Look! up in the sky! It’s a bird! It’s a plane! No, it’s Superintendent of Cemeteries Jimmy Cahill!” “Stinger” is at it again Maldonians. When he isn’t raising money for the youth of Malden or helping the elderly cross the street he’s creating memorials for Maldonians who we have an obligation to remember. Jimmy gets it. This time he’s creating and dedicating a water fountain at the entrance to the Forestdale Cemetery, with a piece of the original fountain from 1917 no less. On Nov. 4 at 11 a.m. there will be a dedication ceremony for — drum roll please — former beloved mayor of Malden and current Malden Licensing Board big kahuna Jim Conway! The “James S. Conway Reflection Pool” is a fine tribute to a fine man, doncha think? A celebration gathering will occur afterwards at the Irish American on West Street where “Gentleman Jim” is a member in good standing. Please come by and say hello to Jim.

It is said in Malden Musings.....

• Whatever happened to...Malden heavyweight boxer Joe Sideri?

• Those ageless boy wonders in Extreme did it again recently at Club Casino on Hampton Beach. Time has truly been kind to these four hard rock mop tops as they had the overflow crowd of friends, family and hard core fans singing and shaking their middle-aged money makers to a catalog of songs that spanned their incredible 30 year career in music. The Market Basket staple “More Than Words” being a highlight of the night.

• A giant omission in a recent column name checking Malden Catholic grads I admired growing up was the most famous grad of all — the “Pride of Townsend Street” our very own Ed Markey — United States Senator! A man with a lot on his plate Ed can still be spotted walking the streets of Malden and Medford engaging friends and constituents with a sharp memory and the gift for political gab.

• The burning question these days throughout Malden during this hotly contested and bruising political season is — who is “Joe Edgeworth!”

• Rare Chris Fallon sighting last week. There was also a rare “Topo Gigio” sighting in Malden too but that is a story for another day. Joining other “hearty and stout” men at the IACC on Pearl Street, former State Rep. Fallon dropped by to say hello and catch up on the latest happenings with a few of his closest confidantes. Chris is a special guy with a wonderful self deprecating sense of humor and a memory recall befitting his political past. Chris is so beloved within these city limits that more than a few households have an additional picture joining the holy trilogy hanging in their living rooms: John F. Kennedy, Martin Luther King, the Pope and Chris Fallon.

• This year’s Malden Summer Concert Series in the Courtyard was by all accounts a smashing success. The performances were moved to a new venue, the courtyard at Malden High School, with Maldonains having no problem finding the music as each night was well attended. Something for everybody even those with discerning musical tastes! Look for next year’s series to be bigger and better. Thank you again to Wynn Resorts, “Mayor for Life” Gary Christenson, Karen Hayes and Adam Weldai for doing such a great job running this series.

• Happy 40 years of wedded bliss by the way to Chris and his lovely bride Cathy. Enjoy that fabulous vacation.

• A big thank you to candidate for Councilor-at-Large Steve Winslow for making the trek up Seaview Avenue to knock on doors and connect with us folks on the hill. I know that is not an easy part of the city to campaign in. Thank you also for the personalized note.

• When last we met I mentioned the sights and sounds at Devir Park in the early ‘70s, but how on earth could I have omitted Joey, Paul and Bobby McCarthy, as well as Billy, Dennis and Timmy Murphy, as young hockey players skating circles around each other? Sorry for the temporary memory loss.

• Welcome to this great big beautiful world of ours Anthony Joseph, grandson of Malden High School Athletic Hall of Famer Shawn Brickman.

• Speaking of the “keeper of Devir Park” — John Monte —- who else remembers that he sold Christmas Trees and handmade wreaths in a small lot right next door to King Neptune on Highland Avenue? He would begin soon after Thanksgiving with trees ranging from three to seven dollars. Thanks to Rudy Trulli for jogging my memory on this one!

• This year I will once again cast my ballot for Michael Goldman — Class of 1967 — for the Malden High School Alumni Hall of Fame. Michael has a brilliant political mind using it for the good of mankind by helping Democrats get elected. From what I heard last year’s quest for new members was temporarily put on hold due to the lack of qualified candidates and a lack of response from the public. Let’s go Maldonians! Get those ballots in! There are plenty of worthy candidates out there!

• Speaking of this political season in Malden it’s become particularly obnoxious (thank you social media!) on various Malden-based Facebook sites with bullying and threats of physical violence such as “body slamming” candidates rearing their ugly heads.

• One candidate taking the high road though is Ward 7 School Committee member Cathy Bordonaro. Cathy has had her yard signs vandalized and is even been the target of online bullying, but continues to work hard and gain momentum as Nov. 7 quickly approaches. Her professionalism is a breath of fresh air in 2017.

• Paul Sherman and the group he is a member of, Bay State Commons, have come up with a unique and unprecedented (for Malden anyway) solution to the always pressing housing shortage issue. If phrases like “intentional community” and “intergenerational cohousing” pique your curiosity then this is the group of people you may want to get in touch with. They have their sights on the American Legion Post on Pleasant Street but the movement is still in it’s infancy. Malden, moving rapidly into the 21st century!

• Our good friends at Cataldo Ambulance — Bob, Diana, and Dennis Cataldo —- are celebrating 40 years of excellence in 2017. Congratulations to this wonderful family and to Cataldo Ambulance for being true friends of Malden!

• Malden Catholic 1973 grad, and son of the late legendary Cliff Hatch, Herbie Hatch was a regular at the Burlington Vermont YMCA back in the early ‘80s. One of the “regulars” at the Y in those days was the newly elected kid wonder mayor of Burlington, Vermont, Bernie Sanders, of Brooklyn, New York. Bernie liked having Herbie on his squad. Herbie played the same role “Jungle Jim” Loscutoff played for Bill Russell back in the day, you had to go thru Herbie to get to Bernie.

• Felt like I was hit in the gut last week with the passing of Bob Rosano, Maria Manicaniello and Grace Endicott. Condolences to these families.

• Malden Overcoming Addiction’s Third Annual Candlelight Memorial Vigil on Oct. 15 — one of the many reasons to love this city of ours. Thank you, Paul Hammersley. Thank you, Pastor Dan Ko. Thank you, Mayor Christenson. Thank you, to all who were responsible for this wonderful, and much needed, tradition.

• The search for a Treasurer/CFO has become one of the most talked about topics in recent memory with a storyline that would be the envy of any of your favorite television obsessions.

• I saw the greatest hoop player to ever call Malden home — Willie Barron — this morning at the Post Office on Mountain Avenue. How does he stay ageless? When I mentioned how great he looked, he just shook his head in acknowledgement and smiled. A Malden treasure.

• With all the craziness going on in the world and right here in our very own back yard I often take comfort in the words of the legendary Boston Red Sox General Manager Lou Gorman, “the sun will rise, the sun will set and I’ll have lunch.” You should too.

• Another Malden High grad I will be nominating for the MHS Alumni Hall of Fame is Johnny Bionelli, road manager for a little band out of Boston you may have heard of — Aerosmith. From loading equipment into Boy’s Life van on Presley Street in the late ‘70s to ensuring Steve Tyler and Joe Perry show up on time in 2017 — for the times they are a changing.

As Peter Falk’s iconic TV character Columbo would say “Just one more thing sir”:

Former Malden firefighter and World War II hero Philip McGonagle Jr. passed away a couple of weeks back surrounded by the family he loved and by the family that loved and adored him. What more can a man ask for from life? Mr. McGonagle led an extraordinary life but in my humble opinion his most enduring achievement has to be the beautiful family he and his wife Mary raised. His son Johnny shared this wonderful post on Facebook and with “Mag’s” permission I felt it needed to be shared with Malden at large: “Just got home from the celebration of my Dad’s life. I always knew he was an incredible guy, but what my siblings and I went through, Thursday night was amazing. After four plus hours of amazing tributes from people who had come to tell their stories of this great man, we were overwhelmed. We always knew he was our hero father but found out how many other people felt the same. My sister Kathy and my nephew Justin did a tribute to my dad that still has left a tear in my eye. Kathy rocks. My dad told all of us in a letter, move on, love our family and make sure we have God in our lives. Dad, thank you for everything and if I can be one percent of a man/person, like you, I will be okay. Again thank you to everyone who reached out to all of us...thank you.”

After I read Johnny’s post I was reminded of the song popularized by Nat King Cole, “Nature Boy,” with the lyric “the greatest thing you’ll ever learn is just to love and be loved in return.” Very apropos to the life Mr. McGonagle led I thought. Malden Musings extends its sincerest condolences to the McGonagle/Amirault family. We don’t forget our heroes.

- Peter Levine is a long-time Malden resident and a regular contributor to the Malden Observer. He can be reached at PeteL39@aol.com for comments, compliments, complaints, or criticisms.